[Wondergirl]

She might be afraid her alley story won't hold up. Maybe her adjuster has told her that her damage doesn't fit that rendition, so now she's tap dancing into a more plausible explanation. And yes, drawing the accident scene with the help of Google maps and/or photos will really support your version of what happened.

Reading this thread is even more exciting than the Grisham novel I just finished! You go, girl!

[1bluesky]

Based on all comments and your additional info seems to me there is a little almost nothing legally you can do to enforce your rights. I see one more thing that you could try before you say: forget it! That thing is to contact the driver who made you damage saying:

"I have contacted my lawyer and they advised me to launch legal enforcement against you, since they are sure I have enough evidence to be able to enforce it. However, I will try one more time to settle the things between us since litigation would made us both lose. Let's settle between us and both be winner instead. If you do not respond to this message within next 48 hours I will consider as yours "no" to my invitation. Please keep on your mind that your "NO" to my settlement invitation would be one more drawback against you in potential legal case. Looking forward to hear from you."

Well, this is a good lesson to all of us. Unfortunately it is only you who is going to pay for it. You already did by your time and frustration.

This is how it works in this world: if you want to charge anyone, you have to prove them wrong or culprit. If you cannot prove, then, take a deep sigh, say: ohh, well this is the life, and take the loss.

Always LEARN from your mistakes/experience and do not let things like this ruin your well being.

This is all.

Now the morals I can draw out is:

1. You failed to take necessary steps that would help you protect your rights.
2. You are 62 and you did not clear human beings behaviour?

I can't believe that people blatantly lie!

These two facts justify your present frustration. Oh, well, I am not trying to be smart at all. I am trying to help you overcome the difficulty you are in now. This might help you to take this loss easier and to prevent any future losses that are not result of your faults.

[talaniman]

Relax and let the process work for you. Give it a week or two.

[ScottGem]

I must disagree with bluesky's advice. First, you don't want a settlement. You want the repairs paid for by her insurance carrier under her liability coverage so the repairs are paid in full and do not reflect on your insurance or record. Or, at least, that your deductible be paid by her insurer.

Second, be wary of threatening legal action if you don't mean to go through with it. That can backfire.

The big mistake you made was not calling the police. They may have been able to tell from the scene who was at fault. Never trust the other driver to admit fault.

The contradiction in her stories does help you. The fact that she is admitting to backing up helps you.

[msonick]

bluesky: I appreciate your advice but I do want her insurance to assume complete responsibility for the accident.

I intend to file a police report at the police station tomorrow if they will let me. Late, but I had indicated earlier, the previous day there was a accident on my street (in the same neighborhood) where the police refused to make a report. (A tractor trailer came down my street - and hit multiple cars -- causing over 10K damage.) I don't know what the rationale was.

I said "I don't know how people can blatantly lie." Well, that's not quite true. I'm a social worker. People lie to me all the time. In this situation, I made an assumption. (A POOR assumption.) This woman appeared to be a professional, she was well dressed. and driving a new car. My assumption was that she would be "truthful." I trusted her. It's a problem that I have. ARRRRrrrrrrr I absolutely would call the police IF I could go back in time, so this was indeed an error on my part. I take ownership for being so naive .. . but I will will fight this.

I've gotten really wonderful advice on this site. I feel empowered and grateful!

[msonick]

She might be afraid her alley story won't hold up. Maybe her adjuster has told her that her damage doesn't fit that rendition, so now she's tap dancing into a more plausible explanation. And yes, drawing the accident scene with the help of Google maps and/or photos will really support your version of what happened.

Reading this thread is even more exciting than the Grisham novel I just finished! You go, girl!

That's fascinating! So if her damage/my damage doesn't fit her story, would an adjuster allow her to fabricate a new story? It sounds like that's what happened. I'm going to call my adjuster tomorrow (if I have time/ I'm at court all day- ironic-- haha) for clarity. It really sounds like there were 2 distinct statements!

I hope this saga will not have as many twists and turns as a Grisham novel!

[Wondergirl]

That's fascinating! So if her damage/my damage doesn't fit her story, would an adjuster allow her to fabricate a new story? It sounds like that's what happened.

She many be tap dancing around a confused adjuster -- "Oh, oh, I forgot to mention" or "I remember now. I was backing up in order to parallel park" or some such, once he mentioned her original story doesn't link up with her car's damage. He probably isn't a party to her story changes, but is just trying to figure out what really happened..

[ScottGem]

That's fascinating! So if her damage/my damage doesn't fit her story, would an adjuster allow her to fabricate a new story?

Maybe, maybe not, but even with this small amount, they might not feel it worth fighting. My wife got into a fender bender several years ago. She was parallel parking and backing up when she bumped the car behind her. It was clearly her fault, but I got a hold of the pictures of the damage. The damage was a dent in the hood on the PASSENGER side (the curb side). Envision it! If you are backing up into a spot you are an angle to the curb. Your street side rear bumper would be closer to the car behind you. For her to have done damage to the curb side would have meant that her wheels would have been up on the curb. Plus there was no damage to the grill and the slope of the front end would have impacted the grill before the hood. But our insurer said they were going to pay anyway.